Impact of vehicular movements and human activities on wild animals along the East-West Highway that traverses through the protected areas will be studied by installing cameras at various places. 

Nearly 15 pairs of cameras will be installed along the Bharatpur-Ratanagar section of the highway for keeping track on wildlife movement in the Chitwan National Park (CNP). 

Chiranjivi Pokharel, chief of Biodiversity Conservation Centre, Sauraha under the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) said the cameras would be installed along the Barandabhar corridor—the protected area where wild animals are often spotted.

“We are trying to study how the vehicles plying the highway are impacting wildlife. This project will also study wildlife movement and effect of human activities on wild animals living near the highway,” said Pokharel.

The camera installation project is jointly conducted by the NTNC, CNP, District Forest Office Chitwan, Community Forests User Groups and Buffer Zone Committees.  

The technical team led by NTNC Sauraha is conducting a preliminary survey for identifying locations for installing cameras, said NTNC Research Officer Baburam Lamichhane. The cameras—which are expected to be set up within this month—will observe the movement along the section for the next 12 months.

This is the first time the camera trapping method has been adopted to study the impact on wildlife, according to Lamichhane. 

“Camera trapping method has been used for leopard and tiger counting, but not for a study on effects of human activities on wild animals until now. This study will give details about how animal movements along the corridor have been affected due to vehicular movement and other activities,” he said.

The study will record specific details of wildlife, like time and area of their movement, vehicles involved in the accidents, among others.  

The data available with the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) suggest the number of road accidents involving wild animals along the highway have gone up in recent times.  

This year alone between February and March, nine deer were killed after being hit by vehicles in the Barandabhar forest area along the East-West Highway. 

The project will also be helpful in suggesting measures to avoid highway accidents which kill wildlife every year. 

“We always knew that highway passing through the protected areas had impacts on wildlife. Now, we can also quantify the effect and suggest measures for preventing animal kill,” said Lamichhane, adding the final report can be a reference material for future conservation efforts.